Dehai News

TheEastAfrican.co.ke: Sudan claims Israeli connection to unrest

Posted by: Berhane.Habtemariam59@web.de

Date: Saturday, 29 December 2018

Sudan's International Cooperation minister of and political secretary of the Popular Congress Party Idris Suleiman speaks during a press conference at the party's headquarters in Khartoum on December 26, 2018. Angry crowds have taken to the streets in Khartoum and several other cities since December 19 when the government tripled the price of bread. FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary:

The Sudanese Journalists Union (SJU) declared a three days strike to protest attack on its members

SJU said that international reporters too had been targeted

Angry crowds have taken to the streets in Khartoum and several other cities since December 19 when the government tripled the price of bread

By MOHAMMED AMIN

Thursday December 29 2018

The Sudanese government has claimed arresting several people for collaborating with Israel to destabilise the country.

The claim amid sporadic protests in the capital Khartoum on Thursday and a general strike by journalists for being targeted in the crackdown against the continuing unrest.

The Sudanese Journalists Union (SJU) on Thursday declared a three days strike to protest the increasing attack on them during the coverage of the protests.

The journalists have also been angered by the censorship imposed on them.

SJU said in statement that the security organs had imposed censorship, especially on the newspapers, to control the flow of information relating to the protests.

Arrested and tortured

“We are deeply concerned by the aggressive abuses against the journalists since the beginning of the protests," read the SJU statement.

It further stated that many journalists had been attacked, arrested and tortured, with several cases recorded in the past few days.

“Around nine of our colleagues have faced different kinds of abuses including arrests, detention and torture because of their coverage to the protests," SJU said

It singled out the editor-in-chief of Altayar newspaper, Mr Khalid Fathi, who was injured in a tear gas attack by the police.

“The office of Alsudani newspaper has also been attacked and our colleague Yasser Abadallah beaten by the security organs without any clear reasons,” the SJU statement added.

The union said that international reporters too had been targeted.

Killed in clashes

In another development, Sudan TV aired a footage of students allegedly involved in what it described as a conspiracy by Israel and rebel movements to perpetrate violence.

However, the Darfur rebels have dismissed the reports, saying that the students were tortured and forced to make confessions.

The Sudan Liberation Movement/ Abdul Wahid faction spokesman, Mr Mohamed Alanir, said the movement was participating in the peaceful protests as part of the opposition.

“For sure, these naïve accusations by the government wouldn’t be believed by the Sudanese people. The government now wants to shift the attention from the suffering of the people and the reality of the protests that have rocked the entire country,”

Mr Alanir stated.

Angry crowds have taken to the streets in Khartoum and several other cities since December 19 when the government tripled the price of bread.

The government has responded with brutality, the Amnesty International says has claimed at least 37 lives so far. Sudanese authorities say only eight protesters have been killed in clashes.